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Symbolic computing in engineering design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2009

Terry Cline ,
Harold Abelson  and
Warren Harris
Terry Cline
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto CA 94304, U.S.A.
Harold Abelson
Affiliation:
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.
Warren Harris
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto CA 94304, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Computer programs that combine traditional numeric methods with symbolic algebra and with specific knowledge of application-based techniques can provide new levels of computational support for engineering design. We illustrate this with a computer-based ‘control engineer’s assistant’. Although this program is focussed on control system design, it demonstrates techniques that should be widely applicable across many engineering disciplines. In particular, we show how, with symbolic computing, a computer-aided design system can usefully simulate engineering models early in the design process, before all (or any) system parameters have been specified numerically. Our system employs a flexible, extensible, object-oriented representation for control systems, which admits multiple mathematical models of designs and provides a framework for integrating tools that operate on diverse representations.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , August 1989 , pp. 195 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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